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... ts that did not want to grow the cocaine plant, had to grow other kind of crops like corn, banana, potatoes, amongst others, and face the problem that it was very difficult for them to market their products and make an adequate profit from them. When they saw and compared the earnings of the neighbors who were in the cocaine business it didnt take long for them to realize which was the crop to grow on the next season. This way the amount of acres used to grow the coca plant increased significantly over the years.
Political corruption Business men from the coastal region and low-class guajiros entered the business seduced by its high profitability, the low costs and because it was easy for them due to the lack of control and interest that the state showed towards narcotics at that time. When sporadically the local authorities imposed controls over the areas, they were very easily bribed by drug lords because authorities were so easily corrupted due to the poverty which consumed the country. Policemen didnt care what those people were doing as long as they got paid to keep their silence. Average policemen didnt have significant motivation to denounce the activities which were taking place. If they got the attention of the higher staff the best they could get for it would be some special police mentions or medals.
Although they are important mentions and would help their careers; the truth is that medals dont feed families. Theyd rather keep their low profile and receive extra money for them and their families. The influence of drug traffickers in the Colombian society reached up to the highest levels. Presidential campaigns of 3 ex-presidents were financed by narco's (Alfonso Lopez Michelle 1978 - 1982 Belisario Betancur 1982 - 1986 and Ernesto Same 1994 - 1998). During the 80 s The Colombian cartels gave huge sums of money to senators, congressmen, judges and politicians to vote against the extradition treaty. This treaty was imposed at the time and it allowed US authorities to take people whod committed drug-related crimes in the United States to imprison them and judge them.
This scared drug lords because they knew that out of Colombia theyd have no influence and their money wouldnt save them. The narco's knew everything that happened. Those who agreed with extradition were sent letters to persuade them to disagree. Theyd first offer them considerable amounts of money; if that didnt work theyd threaten them by telling them facts they knew about their lives and routine.
In one case a journalist who insisted on the extradition of drug lords received an anonymous call from a man, describing in detail the journey her 10 year-old son took every day after school. Extradition was abolished representing a major victory of narco's over the state, at that time narco's almost managed the country. If somebody was brave enough to defy their power they probably died. Politician didnt even try to talk about applying restrictions, it was too dangerous. Consumers The single largest marketplace for illegal drugs continues to be the United States. Although the market has decreased dramatically since the intensive anti-narcotic efforts the mid- 80 's, close to thirteen million Americans still think it is ok to occasionally buy a gram of cocaine, or a quarter ounce of weed to party with their friends on weekends.
A hard core group estimated at between 5 and 6 million have more serious drug habits, and may spend $ 100 -$ 500 dollars a week on purchasing their drugs. These two groups - hard core users and casual users - spend approximately $ 60 billion dollars a year, according to U. S. government estimates Globalization reached organized crime over the last decade and now is integral to its most profitable business -- the international narcotics traffic. Once a regional problem involving a customer base of a few million, and barely a billion dollars in sales, the illegal drug industry is now a worldwide enterprise with tens of millions of hard core consumers spending hundreds of billions on opiates, cocaine and amphetamines and marijuana, as well as other drugs. What keeps the business rolling?
What keeps the drug industry going is its huge profit margins. Producing drugs is a very cheap process. Like any commodities business the closer you are to the source the cheaper the product. Processed cocaine is available in Colombia for $ 1500 dollars per kilo and sold on the streets of America for as much as $ 66, 000 a kilo (retail). No agriculture based commodities industry in the world operates on the same price differentials as cocaine and heroin, while requiring relatively little in the way of expertise. "The average drug trafficking organization, meaning from Medellin to the streets of New York, could afford to lose 90 % of its profit and still be profitable, " says Robert Stutman, a former DEA Agent. "Now think of the analogy. GM builds a million Chevrolet's a year.
Doesn't sell 900, 000 of them and still comes out profitable. That is a hell of a business, man. That is the dope business. " During the 1980 's, while other Latin American nations faced major recessions, the influx of billions of dollars in drug proceeds helped keep Colombia out of trouble. It is difficult to say how much money came into the country. At least 6 % of the economy is thought to be directly involved in narcotics business, with a minimum of $ 5 billion in profits per year. "From a pure economic sense, it's good for any country, " says Pass. "But after a while, what you create are systems that are outside of the formal channels. You can't be taxed.
You destroy jobs. I think there was the realization that U. S. drug money actually was hurting Colombia's economy. It was funding the extremist groups, the purchase of weapons and the other bad things that go along with it. " Colombia today After the destruction of both the Cali and Medellin cartels, the cocaine business began to fragment.
Younger lieutenants realized that the large organizations had been more vulnerable to attack by US and Colombian authorities. They formed smaller, more controllable groups and began compartmentalizing their responsibilities. One group simply smuggles the drugs from Colombia to Mexico. Another group controls the jungle labs. Yet another deals with transportation of coca base from the fields to the labs.
There are well known links between the Colombian Marxists guerilla groups and the cocaine trade. Guerillas protect the fields and the labs in remote zones of Colombia in exchange for a large tax that the traffickers pay to the organization. In turn, the Colombian right wing paramilitary groups are also thought to control both fields, labs and some of the smuggling routes. This situation has been disastrous for Colombia - both sides in an on-going civil war are able to reap huge profits from the drug industry which are then turned into guns for further fighting. The DEA and the Colombian National police believe there are more than 300 active drug smuggling organizations in Colombia today. Cocaine is shipped to every industrialized nation in the world and profits remain incredibly high.
I think it's a war that's very uneven, because while there is a demand, there will always be a supply. They can put as many controls as they want. The only way to get out of this is to legalize this business, the same way that the liquor business is legalized. This phrase by Jorge Ochoa sums it all up. It is an established law of economics that as long as there is demand for a product there will always be someone willing and able to supply it. The U.
S war on drugs, however, has been focused towards the eradication of illegal crops in producing countries, spending billions of dollar without a significant result in sight. While the U. S has wasted an enormous amount of money trying to erase the production from the planet, countries in Europe have invested in educating their people using campaigns explaining the effects of drugs. It is perfectly clear that the methods which have been used are not the most effective.
Over 160. 000 million dollars wouldve been lost in the United States during the year 2000 as a consequence of drug consumption and related problems. The 68, 8 % of that figure (110. 000 million dollars) were lost in wages which people arrested for crimes related to the subject stopped receiving. Also of those people who died due to drug abuse. Almost 15. 000 million were lost in health-care costs such as treatment for addicts and in prevention programs for the youth. The rest of the money was used fighting the demand for drugs in producing countries such as Colombia. While theses figures will most probably continue increasing and the US government intensifies action against production and breeds crime in poor producing countries, American youth goes on consuming these drugs.
However the estimated death toll of cocaine is much lower than tobacco. Tobacco kills more people than sniffing cocaine or smoking marijuana but there is no action against producers. The war on drugs as it's being waged is a failure. They have partial success, but generally it's a failure, because it's completely impossible to contain... as long as there's the demand, as long as there is great profit in the business. I think that they are wrong in the manner they handle the problem.
That problem has to be handled with the legalization and with education. Educate the youth and legalize that. Because that way you can control it. But that idea of restraining it -- they can't control it.
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Research essay sample on War On Drugs Drug Lords
